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A look back: Open homicide cases in Aiken County

By MIKE GELLATLY

In Aiken County, there are currently 14 open homicide cases. Last week, The Aiken Standard sat down with Solicitor Strom Thurmond Jr. to get an update on all of those cases.

Note: There are currently homicide charges against one individual not listed. That case is not listed as Thurmond indicated that the charges are likely to be dismissed.

London Wooden, 19, was arrested on Oct. 1, 2011 for the murder of David J. Maple, 23, of Aiken.

Thurmond said that his office was waiting on the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for their analysis of DNA evidence. The solicitor expects the case to come to trial in June or July of 2013.

The incident, according to Thurmond, was a verbal altercation that had gone bad.

The shooting occurred on Dallas Circle around 9:45 p.m. Wooden was arrested at his home – also on Dallas Circle – and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. A verbal altercation led to the shooting of Maple, who was struck three times, police said at the time. A firearm was recovered near a fence on Dallas Circle along with four small shell casings, according to the report.

Brandon Ingram was arrested on April 16, 2012 for the murder of Ricki L. Harden and the attempted murder of his wife and son.

Harden, while sleeping next to his wife, was shot in head through the wall of his home from outside. Law enforcement recovered 11 shell casings from the crime scene. DNA recovered from these will be compared to a sample of Ingram's, who witnesses say was at the incident site looking for revenge on another man after a botched drug deal earlier in the day.

Thurmond said a disposition date of October is likely for this case.

Morris L. Dorch was arrested on Dec. 15, 2012 for what Thurmond believes was the drug-related homicide of 21-year-old Delance Terez Walton.

Dorch, 25, of Edge Road, is charged with murder and attempted murder. He is also charged with possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime after a shooting incident at the Lucky 7 convenience store on the corner of Hampton Avenue and Terry Drive in Aiken.

Investigators said the shooting stemmed from a prior argument between Dorch and Walton.

Christina Mavris' case is a long one of a woman murdering her mother while in the grip of schizophrenia.

The Aiken woman was jailed for the stabbing death of her mother in 2007, and later found incompetent to stand trial. She has since, though, been released from the Department of Mental Health and taken into police custody on the initial murder charge.

This case is being prosecuted by Donnie Myers, solicitor for the 11th Circuit. When Thurmond was in private practice, he consulted with Mavris' family. He was not retained to represent Mavris, but, out of caution, Thurmond asked the 11th Circuit Solicitor's Office to handle the case.

Gary Means is the next alleged killer on the trial list in Aiken County.

According to police reports, John R. Ankeny, 20, of Beech Island, bled to death after he was shot multiple times at the Columbia Avenue home of Means on Dec. 20, 2010.

The case has been delayed as Means' attorney, Brannon Douglas, is a member of the general assembly and therefore protected from having to try the case until the legislature concludes for the session.

Stephon Carter, 20, is charged with the Dec. 20, 2011 murder of Aiken Master Public Safety Officer Scotty Richardson and the attempted murder of Public Safety Officer Travis Griffin.

The Second Circuit Solicitor's Office has filed notice that they are seeking the death penalty against Carter.

Thurmond said that the case is waiting on a judge to be assigned to it. In capital cases, a single judge hears all parts of the case.

Joshua Jones, 27, has been charged with the Jan. 28, 2012 murder of Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers. Rogers was responding to a resident's concerns about a suspicious vehicle in Eustis Park when Jones allegedly shot her.

Thurmond said the case is waiting on forensic evidence to be processed before it can move forward.

Jones, of North Augusta, had additional charges filed against him which include failure to stop for blue lights, unlawful carrying of a pistol, larceny and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The indictments were handed down on Nov. 29, 2012.

Tony Baldwin's life will not likely change much after his trial for a 2001 murder. Baldwin is currently serving a life sentence in the South Carolina Department of Corrections for another murder. Although, according to Thurmond, Deputy Solicitor Bill Weeks has a drive to hold Baldwin accountable for this crime.

Christopher Parker, who faces murder and weapons charges in connection with the death of an 18-year-old New Ellenton man, was arrested Jan. 27, 2012.

Parker was “on the trial list for this term,” Thurmond said, but the case was not called. It will “be tried very soon,” the solicitor added.

It appears that Parker killed the victim, who was shot once in the back, for stealing an income tax check, investigators said at the time.

David Rosier, 45, of Nicholson Road in Trenton, has been charged with murder in the Nov. 12, 2012 death of Donnie James Davis, 20, of 181 Dixie Clay Road in Warrenville.

Police and witnesses said Rosier shot Davis in the face with a handgun. Thurmond said the case is waiting on SLED forensics.

Jamar White, 28, is charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime after the New Year's Eve 2012 death of Joseph Brown.

A newer case, it has an estimated disposal date of February 2014.

Lacie Doolittle, 22, of Wagener, has been charged with felony DUI, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Brent Kelly.

The victim, 53-year-old Gary James Daigle of Jefferson, Ga., died in June 2012 at a Georgia hospital after his family decided to remove him from life support. Daigle was struck while standing near his disabled truck on Interstate 20.

The vehicle driven by Doolittle was traveling west when it ran off the roadway and struck the victim's truck, causing it to crash into him.

William Currie, 49, is awaiting trial for reckless homicide. But, he is on the run from law enforcement, and has been since soon after his alleged crimes. Currie was originally charged with two counts of felony driving under the influence following July 21, 2012 crash that claimed the life of one woman and injured her husband, who was driving.

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